Yammi The Octopus Is Hungry! Will You Feed Him Cookies?
Save Yammi ($0.99) by Bulkypix is an innovative physics puzzler that puts a new spin on popular iOS games like Cut the Rope and Burn the Rope.
Poor Yammi is an octopus who has lost his way, finding himself sucked through a pipe that transported him far from home. Now you must help Yammi journey back to the sea by using ropes to overcome obstacles, collect stars, and feed Yammi all the yummy cookies that he craves. Traveling is a hungry business, after all.
While Save Yammi is not an entirely unique game because it is based on pre-existing concepts, it does use mechanics that are quite different from competing games. Rather than just relying on physics, Save Yammi uses a blend of touchscreen interaction and tilt motion for puzzles.
Each level in Save Yammi consists of a spool of rope, three yellow stars, two red stars, a cookie, and Yammi. I’m not sure what ropes and cookies have in common, or why ropes were chosen beyond their current star status in the App Store. But it’s a combination that ends up being a lot of fun.
The goal is to get the cookie from the top of the screen into Yammi’s waiting mouth, while collecting at least three yellow stars. This is accomplished by using a finger to draw lengths of rope on the screen, which the cookie will follow by defying physics. While on the rope, the cookie can be tilted towards the left or right using gyroscopic controls.
This sounds simple enough, but stars are not always placed in the most accessible areas, and often require a lot of clever maneuvering to reach with the cookie. Strands of rope will disappear after a short amount of time, so constant adjustments must be made to solve puzzles.
Oftentimes, stars are blocked by obstacles, such as pipes, and the cookie must be coaxed around them. As the game progresses, more formidable blockades are introduced, plus other elements, like wings that make the cookie fly for a short period of time. All of these additions keep Save Yammi interesting, dynamic, and engaging.
There are more than 100 levels, which can all be solved in several different ways, allowing for creativity and problem-solving skills to come into play. Game Center support offers leader boards and achievements for progress tracking and friendly competition.
Save Yammi took me a few levels to get used to, since I wasn’t initially aware of the gyroscopic movement. When I got the hang of it, I found the controls to be perfectly calibrated and easy to use. I don’t normally have the patience for tilt motion games, but Save Yammi uses just the right amount of motion to be fun without becoming frustrating.
While I enjoyed the game, I would have liked an option to skip levels that I was spending too much time on, or to progress without gathering three stars. Hopefully these are options that can be added with an update.
Save Yammi is a clever game with cute characters, great graphics, and unique gameplay, that definitely deserves to be on top of the App Store charts. At only $0.99, it’s a game that’s sure to keep you challenged, entertained, and hungry for cookies.
